I’ve long held that Yi is one of the more poorly designed toons in the game. He can be very easy to shut down, especially since draft mode gives your opponents the opportunity to take as many exhausts as they believe are necessary. But Yi is also undeniably fun to play, at least in my mind. It feels great to cruise around the map at mach 10 and just cut people in half. For that very reason, I’ve started The Great Yi Experiment.

I’m going to be selectively using Master Yi in ranked play over the course of the next few weeks to see just how handicapable this swordsman can be. The idea for the experiment actually came from a Twisted Treeline match in which I played Yi, and though I played well early, I got rocked late because the other team stacked exhaust. It was a painful loss. I realized after playing though, that I could have used better summoner skills to keep myself alive and dealing damage, even against three exhausts.

I’m hoping to provide scattered updates along the way. So far, it’s been fun. I’ve seen a modicum of success, both as a jungler and a lane toon, and I’m hoping to continue the trend.